Final Fantasy 7 - The true story
by FnlFan7
Summary: A realistic version of the original Final Fantasy 7 story. If you ever wanted to know what was going through the minds of your favorate heroes, this should be your first stop.
1. Prelude

Prelude  
  
Cloud waited on a pile of rubble, near a well. This was his favorite place, especially at night. He would come here to think and to plan. Sometimes he would come here just to get away from everything. But this time. he just waited. He looked around and up at the sky. It was beautiful, as always, and with an infinite amount of stars. And he wondered, was there someone there that would be looking back at him; wondering like he was, about what would happen in the future, or even thinking about if they would make a worthwhile difference.  
  
"Hi, Cloud."  
  
He turned to see a young female figure walk towards him. She was beautiful, and somehow, even more so in the star light. "I thought you wouldn't show up." Cloud looked at her as she took a seat near the edge of the pile and looked up. Her apparent indifference to what he said, even now, made him feel heavyhearted. Yet he sat quietly there for what seemed liked hours. He felt that after the day they had gone through, this was probably the right thing to do. But he knew the evening wasn't over, and he had one more announcement to make. "I will be leaving soon."  
  
She put her head down. "All the boys will be leaving to get a job in the city. It's too hard to make a living here in the country."  
  
"I'm different though. I am going to join Soldier and be a great warrior, like Sephiroth."  
  
After some thought, she turned to him, and looked him in the eyes. "Promise me something."  
  
He was startled, but agreed.  
  
"Promise me that when you join soldier and become famous, you will come save me if I'm in trouble." She looked back down and seemed to be in thought. "I want to experience that at least once."  
  
He agreed, and looked around once more and thought. Why would she make him make that type of a promise? 


	2. Mako Reactor #1

Chapter 1 - Mako Reactor #1  
  
He jumped from the train and saw two bodies on the floor. He assumed that part of the team had already arrived. His adrenaline was pumping and he knew that there was no turning back. He quickly moved up to the motionless guards and took the healing balm they had with them. He could probably sell them later on.  
  
No sooner had he removed it from them, two other guards came running from the alley. They pulled out their guns as soon as they saw him, and he knew that if he did not fight back, they would kill him, without asking any questions. He jumped between the two train cars and reached to his back. The hilt felt cool and comforting in his hand, but he had no time to dwell on it. The guards moved up to the dead men and quickly started to shoot in his direction. Cloud closed his eyes, and no sooner had he opened them did one of the men fall to the floor and burst into flames. The other guard jumped back and watched his partner in horror, realizing too late that he was the next target. The sting in his abdomen subsided as soon as it started, and he felt the sword that had thrust through it being drawn back as everything around him hazed away.  
  
Cloud sheathed his sword, and ran. He knew where he had to go, and he knew that he did not have much time to work with. He hoped the guards didn't have enough time to call for help. He could handle a few of them on his own, but even his materia gems could not help him against anyone from Soldier. He ran across a corner and saw a man in the shadows. The man gestured towards him and he saw someone else running a few yards behind him. They all met at a guard post. "What's your name?" Cloud turned and saw an overweight man smiling at him.  
  
"Name's Cloud, ex-Soldier."  
  
The other man stepped back in surprise, "Soldier, isn't that the enemy."  
  
"Hey! Back up Vicks, he said ex-Soldier right, so he's on our side." The overweight man looked at him again "My name's."  
  
"Don't care! Once this job's done I'm gone." Cloud brushed passed them to get a better look at the structure they were headed to.  
  
"Leave him Wedge, guess he still misses Soldier."  
  
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU GUYS NEVER TO MOVE IN GROUPS!" The black man was of great built and looked almost normal, except that a gun had been grafted into his right arm. "Keep moving forward you guys." He moved towards Cloud and looked him straight in the eyes. "Don't trust ya."  
  
Cloud looked on as everyone darted in their own directions. He saw his target: The Number 1 Mako Reactor. It stood about 40 floors high, spewing gas that could be smelled miles away. He wondered a bit how he came to this situation, but the thought didn't seem to come to him, so he ran towards the reactor.  
  
As he reached the first set of doors, the black guy came up to him. "We're putting in the security clearances. Is this the first time you've been in a reactor?"  
  
Cloud looked at him with disinterest, "Course not, I was in soldier after all."  
  
"That's it, you're coming with me from now on."  
  
"Barret, the door is open." The feminine voice came from the door. She looked at them, and he could see the fatigue in her eyes.  
  
They hurried towards the door and looked inside. The air smelled stale, and with too many chemicals to take a sane breath. They walked over to the next security check and she quickly punched in the keys that were stated in the piece of paper in her pocket. Wedge walked up to Cloud "Can you imagine how many people had to die to get these codes." Cloud just walked past and by the time he got to the security point, the door was open and they were heading for the elevator. The two other men stayed behind and it was just him, Barret, and the lady, which he realized now, was technical strength of the group.  
  
"Push that button over there." He complied to what she said, and they were soon descending into the bowels of the reactor.  
  
Barret laid back on the wall of the elevator and made a fist. "Shinra keeps on making these machines which suck the life out of the planet. They ruin the planet to the point that even plants don't grow for miles around."  
  
Cloud looked on indifferent. "Don't care, I just want to get in and out before anyone from Soldier comes."  
  
"Shit!! How can you say that when everything around you is being destroyed by the Shinra?" He clenched his fists, but did not make a move towards Cloud. He hired this renegade from Soldier when his own men ran low, but like anyone from Soldier, he had demeanor that was chiseled to strike fear, and an eerie glow in his eyes that did all but keep a person calm.  
  
The doors opened and the lady ran in front. "Hurry up!"  
  
When Cloud and Barret caught up to her, she pointed them to a service ladder. "At the bottom you will find the connection bridge that will take you straight to the reactor. Place the bombs and leave."  
  
She continued to talk, but the words did not seem to get through to Cloud, and he continued towards the reactor. The closer he seemed to get to the reactor core, the more tense he got, and the more adrenaline he felt course through his veins. They reached the bottom of the service ladder and the final doors where right in front of them. "There it is. Those damn Shinra will pay for what they are doing to the planet." Barret shook his left hand, in apparent pain.  
  
"Apparently service ladders are not made for one armed terrorists."  
  
"Shut the h*ll up Cloud, or I'll. "  
  
"You'll what?" Before they could even start, a mako guard showed up. Barret dropped to the floor and a few rounds were heard.  
  
"What the h*ll was that Cloud?"  
  
"It's a mako guard, it scanned us and pretty soon all of the automated defenses should come up. The ones here are particularly lethal because they are equipped with materia gems."  
  
"I thought only living things could use materia gems."  
  
"Listen, clod, we don't have time for this here. Lets go." Cloud brandished his sword ran into the reactor core room. As soon as he got in, he heard shots behind him and turned to see Barret attacking two mechanized droids.  
  
"Barret, cover your eyes!" Cloud placed his sword in front and felt all his hairs stand on end. At that instant, Lightning started to strike the machines. The walls seemed to be alive with sparks flying from end to end and sticking all of the machines. "Hurry up, lets get this over with."  
  
Barret looked at the machines fall to the ground and saw how many parts just melted away. He thought about the metal grafted to his arm and he felt a chill run down his back when he thought about what could have happened if he had actually taken action against Cloud.  
  
They both ran in towards the reactor room. They saw the bridge that connected the core with the door and Cloud felt his heart pump faster and faster, more intensely with every step he took towards the reactor until his head couldn't take any more as he screamed in pain and fell to the ground momentarily.  
  
*This is not a normal reactor. *  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
Cloud looked up to see Barret staring directly at him. He wondered where the voice he heard came from. There no longer seemed to be any pain, but his heart continued to race. "Sure, fine."  
  
Barret then turned around and headed toward the reactor, stopping momentarily to pick up something from the floor. Cloud saw him put it in his pocket and continue towards the reactor. "Well, get on with it Cloud."  
  
"Shouldn't you do it?"  
  
"I still don't trust you. Just place the bombs and lets leave."  
  
Cloud proceeded to take the bombs out of his side pack and set them all for 10 minutes. "There, done." Cloud turned to Barret and saw parts of the wall move as if they had a life of their own. Before he could even open his mouth there was a loud siren and all of the machinery started moving. "The defenses are on! We've got to leave!"  
  
They ran towards the door, and from the wall, a machine dropped in front of them. "O' shit." Barret moved back, but he knew the bridge did not have a place to seek refuge anywhere. Who ever planned the security knew this and made it easy to enter because leaving alive would be impossible. He looked at Cloud and could not find the first hint of fear. He could not believe a person could be this brave. or stupid.  
  
"Barret, stay as close to the reactor as possible. It probably has programming that prevents it from damaging it, so it will not shoot." Cloud took out his sword and looked over to Barret who had already gotten as close to the reactor as possible.  
  
The machine moved forward and they could see an array of cutting parts that it intended to use on them. It weight and girth would make it impossible for them to push it over the edge, that is, if they could get close enough without the machine slicing them to shreds.  
  
"What now, Ex-soldier?"  
  
"Make yourself usefull and shoot it, I'll try and fry its circuits."  
  
Barret immediately started shooting at different parts of the machine. But he could barely manage to put a dent into it. The machine took out some light beams and started moving them at Barret. "Cloud, the damn thing is targeting me. Hurry up."  
  
As he was talking, a slight rumble was sounding and suddenly, a bolt of lighting shot through the machine. Parts of its moving seemed to be affected, but it continued towards them. "It seems to be protected against shocks, we have to blow some holes into it." Cloud look at Barret as he seemed to be doing something to his Gun graft. He saw the green light fall on Barret and no sooner did it get a clear view of him, did the machine shoot some rounds at Barret who bent in pain. Cloud quickly moved up to the machine hitting away some of the saw blades and cut the gun part off. "Are you alright, Barret."  
  
Barret nodded and showed cloud the bulletproof vest under his jacket.  
  
Cloud felt rage go through him as he held his sword. He ran once more towards the machine and hit the laser beam projector. The machine raised a tail like appendage and started seemed to be preparing itself to fire.  
  
Barret kept on tinkering with his gun and motioned Cloud to come closer. "Jessie told me about this thing. Since you broke its laser sensor, it has to wait until someone attacks it so that it knows where to shoot."  
  
"Thanks, but what the heck are you doing, shoot the damn thing."  
  
Barret looked up, and seemed to be finished. "Sure thing. Cloud, get ready to fry this thing." Barret pointed his gun and grabbed it with his other hand. Suddenly a loud bang was heard as the gun blew a hole into the machine. The machine quickly replied with an intense laser beam coming from its tail. Barret and Cloud fell back as they felt the beam burn through their clothes. The smell of burnt flesh covered the air and Cloud and Barret stood up.  
  
Cloud clenched his sword and one of the gems encrusted on the hilt started to glow and another bolt of lightning fell on the machine. The machine seemed to recoil in what would be considered pain, if a machine could feel such a thing. It rolled to the side and fell off.  
  
"Yes! That's what you get for messing with Avalanche. You f***ing beast." Barret tried to raise his hand in joy and felt the sting of the burn. He then looked at Cloud pull something out of his pack.  
  
"Catch." Cloud threw a small plastic vile at Barret.  
  
"Thanks man." Barret quickly opened the vile and pored it on his hand, and on his wounds. "Should've known you'd have some of these. My men have mine."  
  
"I always carry a few." Cloud opened his vile and pored it over the burns the machine gave him, and watched them as they seemed to dissipate. He always enjoyed watching the effects of liquefied herbs mixed with mako, regenerate wounds. He knew, though that this light mixture would not be able to heal bigger wounds and burns. He even wondered if it was healthy to be exposed to those chemicals. Yet in all of the time that people had been using them, it seemed that none have had harsh reactions to it. In fact, some people make a living out of making some that have been known to cure every type injury, the only exception being the actual regeneration of body parts or reviving those that have died. It is not useful for poisons either. It would keep the person alive longer, but would not eliminate the poisons from the body. Some people actually died because they felt better from the potion, but were not cleansed of the poison. The only harsh reaction was if people exposed themselves to huge quantities of pure mako. And even this was just a rumor. Cloud looked at his watched and placed his sword back on its sheath. "We have about 6 minutes to get out of here, hurry up!"  
  
Barret ran alongside Cloud and noticed that his eyes had a weird glow, somehow brighter than when they first met. He figured this was not the time to ask. He stopped and pick up the gun that Cloud had loped off. It could withstand a jolt of electricity and if it was powerful enough to be felt through the heavy vest, he figured it must have some radical power. He tied it to his back and ran behind Cloud They got up to the service ladder and climbed as fast as they could. Barret again had to endure some pain as he had to pull his weight on his only hand. When Cloud reached the top, he saw Jessie struggling to move. Cloud ran up to her and saw her foot stuck between two pipes. He helped her loose and they all ran to the elevator.  
  
"How much time do we have, Cloud."  
  
Jessie looked at him with a fearfull look in her eyes and he figured she must have heard the explosions and the gun shots. Cloud looked at his watch and looked back at her. "Less than 3 minutes." He saw the shock in her face. It had taken them about 5 minutes to go through the checkpoints, and they all knew that if they weren't out of there quick, they were going to go up with the blast.  
  
"What took you guys so long to get here."  
  
"We ran into a defense droid with an attitude."  
  
Barret pounded on the wall. "The h*ll we did. We ran into the scorpions tail."  
  
Jessie looked at them as smelled the viles that they used. "I assumed it did a number on you two." They were reluctant to answer and they moved off the elevator as quick as they could. They saw Vicks waiting for them. "2 minutes Vicks." Jessie reached the door and punched in the key code from memory. To her delight, the door opened and then vicks ran to the next one and pressed in his code. The door opened and they ran out. They heard Wedge call out to them and followed him into the tunnel. They saw a blinding flash from behind them and quickly felt the shock of the sound wave as it broke through the innards of the tunnel they had just entered..  
  
The blast had thrown most of them together but had not caused actual harm on any of them. Wedge got up and new that the escape route was his to lead. "Keep moving! The opening is up in front." After some moving, Wedge noticed that the tunnel had caved in from the blast.  
  
Barret looked at the expression on Wedge's face and new what happened. "We can't move back. The place will be crawling with guards. Jessie, give me some of those bombs you made, there doesn't seem to be much rocks here so we can blow them away."  
  
She looked at Barret and knew that he was serious. "There will be a big fireball, and some of the tunnel might cave in, so we will have to jump through as soon as the explosion takes place."  
  
"All right, you heard her men, brace yourselves." Barret placed the bombs on the sides of the tunnel, angled so that most of the blast would go in the direction of the pile of rocks. He moved back and pressed the switch.  
  
There was a loud bang and they felt the air around them sucked in the direction that the explosion happened. They knew it worked and they all ran through the fires that were left over from the blast. Wedge ran out last and his pants caught fire, so he threw himself on the floor to put it out. Cloud looked at this sight and felt that this was a minimal price to pay for the destruction and deaths they had caused by blowing up the reactor.  
  
Barret quickly picked himself up and gained the attention of the group. "Alright, we move out now, everyone their own way, we have to make it to the outgoing train before reinforcements come and completely surround this area."  
  
Everyone agreed and they departed in separate directions once more. Cloud walked out to the main square. His heart beat stopped racing and his mind cleared up a bit. He took a look at the stores and the surrounding neighborhood. There was a drunk on the street, a few workers on their way home and even some suits from Shinra Headquarters.  
  
"What happened?" He turned to look at a young lady with a flower basket. She had a ribbon with a gem of unusual color on it, and a dress unusual for the girls in that area.  
  
Cloud began to stare, but quickly looked away. "Nothing." He felt she knew what he had done, but he decided to forgo that thought. "What are you doing in a place like this, at this hour?"  
  
"I'm selling flowers, you want one? It's only 1 gil." She picked up one of the delicate yellow flowers in her basket and handed it to cloud.  
  
He looked at her in the eyes, and felt stirred by her words and actions. "Sure, I'll have one." He paid her and she continued to walk. He stared at her as she moved away, and wondered what had brought her to this type of situation, even though he knew that the root of all those problems would be Shinra. He put the flower in one of the small boxes he used to carry the explosives and placed it in his side pack. In the distance he could hear the whistle of the locomotive. If he didn't hurry, he would miss it, so he started on his way to the station.  
  
"There he is! Lets get him!"  
  
Cloud turned to see some guards from the Local Shinra building run towards him. He thought they must have heard from the people in the area that he was involved. He knew he could eliminate them with ease, but this was no time for a fight, he had to get to his train, or he will be stuck in this part of town with many more guards. He ran around the corner only to find more guards in that direction, he turned and saw a few more coming from the other side. This time he was surrounded, and he would not be able to kill all of them, without he himself getting killed. He moved back to the ledge above the train tracks, and felt the tell-tell roar of the coming train. If he was going to get killed, he thought, it wasn't going to be by the hands of these guards. He got on the ledge. and jumped. 


	3. Sector 7 Slums

Chapter 2 - Sector 7  
  
The train started to pick up speed. It had a bumpy beginning. It was slow, and it felt like the roof was going to cave in from the sounds coming from it. Barret and the other members of the terrorist group Avalanche waited in the car, to reach their destination. Wedge looked at Barret and knew that the mission was a success. Only one new member of the team seamed to be lost. It was pointless to think of him as dead because to them, no member of Avalanche would be dead in thought. With the exception of the train gears, the car was quiet, and no one felt like saying much, as all of their thoughts drifted to the lost newcomer.  
  
Wedge decided to break the stillness, and only one thing came to his mind. "You think Cloud would decide to join our cause?"  
  
Barret looked away from the group. "How the h*ll should I know?"  
  
There was a rumbling coming from the top of the car. They all looked up. Suddenly the doors were hit and they opened up. A figure came out of the dark and landed in the middle of the group. After about a split second everyone recognized the leather jacket and chains and the spiky blonde hairstyle of the newcomer. It was Cloud. Joy spread through the group as they got up to welcome him.  
  
Barret wasn't too fond of happy reunions but even he admitted to himself that he was relieved to see him. "That's enough, we have to move on to the next car." Barret motioned to everyone and they stated moving to the next car.  
  
Jessie stayed behind and looked at Cloud. "Your face is all black." She ripped a piece of her clothing and cleaned his face. She assumed he dirtied it crawling through the top part of the train. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there."  
  
She did not stay to await a reply from Cloud. He assumed that she just figured he would not say anything anyway. He did feel a bit of compassion, even if it was part of his job to protect the members of Avalanche. Cloud moved into the next car and noticed that Barret already managed to scare the people in that car into the next one. The only exceptions were a Shinra conductor and a bum that had made himself a home in one of the seats. The bum was of no use for Barret to try to scare into the next car, but the conductor was another story. Barret ran strait towards him, yet the man did not move to the other compartment, he just cowered in the position he was in. "I will not be intimidated people like you."  
  
Barret picked the guy up by his shirt and thrust him to one of the seats and was about to hit him with his gun graft, but felt a bit of sympathy, even this person was just trying to survive by making a living in the train service. "You're not worth the trouble."  
  
The conductor stayed and cowered where he was thrown, and sat quietly, occasionally looking up to see if anyone was looking at him. Cloud didn't pay much mind to him and decided to walk towards the other car and was stopped halfway by Jessie. "Cloud, come here, I want to show you something." She took him to one of the display panels that located in that car. He already had an idea of what she was going to show him, but decided to play along. "This is the tracks that we are on, it runs around the main support beam of the city of Midgar. This map is a 1/30000 scale model of the city. It's like a giant pizza above the ground." Cloud looked at the model. It had one huge support beam in the middle and separate beams for each of the sections around it. The screen proceeded to move into the sections that they were moving through. Dots showed how it moved around the pillar to the section they were going to. Cloud stepped to the window and saw the towns that were under the city. They all looked dilapidated and worn out. "There was a time in which each of those towns had a name, but with time, they were all forgotten. We all call them by they section plates that they are under."  
  
Barret sat down next to the windows that Cloud was looking through. "The damned Shinra keep on using those machines to suck the blood of the planet."  
  
Cloud looked at Barret and noticed that this man just had a deep-rooted determination to make the world inhabitable for the future. This was a self- proclaimed savior of the planet. He wondered what would drive a person the get this type of attitude. "Why do people live in those slums?"  
  
Barret looked at Cloud in the eyes to see if this was actual compassion or another hit on his caring. "You're full of surprises you know... I don't know. Maybe they can't afford to live in the city, or maybe they still feel love for their land, regardless of how deteriorated it gets."  
  
Cloud moved back to where the monitor was and Jessie continued to give him explanations about how the entire undercity system worked. He tried as best as he could to follow everything she said, but it did not hold any interest to him, and he quickly forgot everything that she was saying to him. He looked out the window one more time and he saw in the far of distance the sunlight that was blocked of by the city. It had taken them most of the morning to pull of their attack, but this place was almost in perpetual darkness as a result of the city.  
  
The trained slowed down a bit and the lights started flashing. Jessie assured Cloud that this was normal and that they had fake ID's that she made that allowed them to cross the sensors without it being suspicious about their activities.  
  
After a several minutes, the train came to a stop. They each moved out of the train and Barret called them all together. "Don't be afraid of the explosion you saw today, because the next one will be bigger." Barret signaled and they each went to the nearby town.  
  
Cloud paused for a moment to look up at pillar that held this section up. It had a big number painted on: 7. Cloud moved into the town and noticed that everyone was abuzz about the happenings of that day. They all seemed to pace from one place to another, they would gather in groups and many of them showed fear, but most were happy about what was happening. He took out a little box from his side-pack and thought back momentarily to the girl that had handed him the flower. Then he headed to the only place in town that he knew, the bar.  
  
Barret had already gotten there and threw the people out. He was waiting outside for him. "Ok, you can go in."  
  
Cloud stepped through the doors and was rushed at by a little girl that was calling in joy to her father. She looked at him and stopped dead in her tracks when she realized her mistake. She quickly rushed back behind a figure that Cloud was all too familiar with. "Cloud you're back." Even after years of being apart, she still preserved the sintillating beauty that she had as a child. yet, somehow, today she looked a bit different. A flower? You shouldn't have." The other guys in the bar made a few whistling sound and gestured to one another.  
  
Cloud didn't realize that he was still holding the flower. Had he noticed he would have tossed it outside, just to avoid this situation and still have the respect that was due to him, as he tought in his mind, of a high class soldier. All in all, Cloud handed her the flower "It's no big deal, Tifa"  
  
The guys now made even more noise, which caused the little girl to huddle closer together to Tifa. "Don't mind Marlene, she is a very shy little girl." She smelled the flower and caught herself from flinching at the smell of the explosives they had used for their bombing. "Did you fight with Barret."  
  
"No." Cloud thought back at the time that he did almost level his body, but decided that this was not something that she needed to know.  
  
"Wow! It seems you've grown a bit. You used to get into fights at the drop of a hat when you where small." He felt she saw right through his lie, but she did not seem to mind.  
  
"Jo, Cloud! Come here for a sec." Cloud turned from Tifa and saw Vicks, which had wasted no time in hitting the drinks. Tifa turned away with Marlene and took her behind the bar. Cloud walked over to Vicks and sat down. "Have a drink my friend. You earned it." Cloud was about to decide against it, but a drink was something that he felt he needed. Wedge commented on how Tifa's good cooking had made him fat and how he always judged people by what they did, and not what they said, which is why he thought Cloud was a good person regardless of his reputation. Cloud decided that he could not take this any longer and decided to walk out. He was not used to getting compliments, especially ones that he did not think he earned.  
  
Barret met him at the door as Cloud was trying to walk out. He heard a familiar voice and saw Marlene run towards Barret, who picked her up and placed her on his shoulder. Cloud clearly saw that this was not his real daughter. She had white complexion and none of the defining features of her adopted father. He dismissed this and decided to hear what Barret had to say instead. "Meeting's about to start. Come down now." Barret pulled a lever hidden next to a pinball machine, and the whole contraption moved to a lower level. Vicks and Wedge followed.  
  
Cloud decided to sit a while at the bar before he went down there. He was not there for any planning anyway, he was just the brute force the group needed to execute its plans and the only thing he cared about now was getting his proper dues.. Tifa looked at him and noticed that something was going through his mind. "You want something to drink."  
  
"Give me something hard."  
  
He saw how she mixed together a few drinks into his glass with the precision that only comes with experience. He took a shot and could feel the burning sensation of the alcohol as it passed through his throat. "We really appreciate what you are doing for us Cloud." He took another shot of his glass. "You look a bit different. Are you alright."  
  
"Yes, I am fine." He gulped the rest of the drink. "Thank you." He walked over to the pinball machine and pulled the lever. The machine lagged a bit, but it made it all the way down. He saw Barret hitting a punching bag and his little girl next to him encouraging him. Vicks and Wedge were at the table making some plans and Jessie was at the computer looking at some things that Cloud did not understand. "Where's my money."  
  
Barret punched the bag as hard as his hands allowed and looked at Cloud. "Shit, is that all you think about?" Cloud saw Barret pick up a small bag next to a safe. " Here." Barret threw a the packet at Cloud, who caught it midway through the air. Cloud turned around and went upstairs. He felt that a few more of those drinks would just about numb his thoughts. Something that he despretly needed.  
  
********  
  
  
  
Cloud opened his eyes, feeling the bright lights of the meeting room. He did not remember how he got there. But the headache he felt was indication enough of what he did the previous night. He sat up, and remembered that this was the morning that Avalanche was going to try their second attack on the Shinra. He did not feel like going to the reactors, and his head was not cooperating with him either. He decided to leave, and try to find another way of making some money. Again he tried to retrace how he came to this point in his life. He remembered being part of Soldier, but then he remembered forces of Soldier coming against him. He blotted his memory and he moved to the pinball machine, and pulled it's lever. It was left down for him, so he knew they were expecting him upstairs. He looked around and saw Tifa showing Marlene how to prepare some drinks and he saw Barret fiddling with something near the exit.  
  
He started towards the exit, and Tifa quickly went up to him. "Cloud wait! Please stay and help us with this." Cloud just kept quiet and looked at her. "You promised, remember. You haven't forgotten our promise have you."  
  
Cloud thought back to the only thought that seemed vivid in his mind. "I'm sorry Tifa, but I'm not famous. I can't keep my promise."  
  
"But you did get to join soldier, and we really need your help."  
  
Cloud looked at her and thought about what she said. "I'll do it. But I'll want double the amount this time." He would of course do it for nothing if it was only for her, but he was not about to go soft with Barret looking on. He saw Barret as he was about to go on one more of his fits of fury, but Tifa went to him. He made out bits and pieces of their conversation, and noticed for the first time, that he was being paid with the money that Barret had set out for his daughter's schooling.  
  
Barret's face was in an agry fit. "3,000 Gil, and that's all I'm offering."  
  
"Fine." Cloud saw that regardless of the appearance that this person gave, he cared more about Marlene and her future than probably any other thing in the world. It now made sense to him why such a person would try to destroy machines that were making the world an uninhabitable world for his daughter.  
  
Barret again started fiddling with something in his hands, and Cloud now noticed that it was a materia gem. "Cloud, I have something to ask you... How do you use these gems?" Before Cloud could even put a word in edgewise Barret replied: "If you tell me, I will give you the one that I found at the reactor."  
  
Cloud held the gem in his hand and felt it's essence. This was a regenerative gem. It was still in its raw form from lack of use, but could still fetch around 500 gills if sold. "Fine, I'll tell you how they work. Hold on to this." Cloud passed him the gem. He figured, he can't get injured with the healing gem. He thought back to the lectures that his instructors at Soldier had given all of them. The lectures never actually worked better than using the materia, but it gave an idea of what to do and what to expect. "Materia gems are mako energy that is transformed into a crystalline form. Depending on how quickly it is crystallized and the conditions for it's crystallization, its properties change. The more you use a gem, the stronger the gem is, and the more powerful its effects are. In order to use these gems, a certain amount of inner energy is required." He noticed some confusion in Barret. "I can't describe it better than saying: you have to concentrate. The stronger the effect you want, the more you have to concentrate to make it work. Most of the gems that have an observable effect, such as fire, ice or lightning, increase your abilities to concentrate. Others do not, but instead, increase other things, such as your speed or how long strong you are." Cloud saw this these explanations were being wasted and decided to just show him how to use the gem he had on him now. " The materia you have is a healing gem. It is in its roughest form. It will only heal light wounds, every time you use it. If you have bigger injuries, you will need to use it more than once. While you are concentrating you are open to attacks, so use it only when you know you are safe. Many weapons and armor, along with other accessories are made to carry a few gems." Cloud looked at Barret's gun graft and noticed that he had replaced the gun from the previous day with the one that he had loped of the machine. "That particular gun has two insets, which allow a slow growth. The most rapid growth is gained from actually holding them in you hand while you use them, but that is not a good option in battle. Besides, by having the gems set on a weapon or an armor, makes it possible to use more than one while in battle." Cloud showed him how to snap the gem into the inset and how to remove it. He gave Barret the gem in his hand. "To make your first time simple, hold it in your hands and concentrate on it. You will feel the gem and its power. Just then, picture your target, or the general direction of your target. In this case, yourself, and try to guide the gem to it." Cloud saw the gem glow and knew that Barret had effectively used it. "OK, that's it."  
  
Barret looked around, and felt the effects of the gem. "Shit, that's easy stuff. Why do people make such a big deal about it." He threw the gem back at Cloud, and walked out the door.  
  
Cloud placed the gem on his vest inset and thought back to when he thought the same thing. Materia gems are much more powerful than what that little demonstration had shown. This was a man made gem. It was crystallized to quickly for its true power to set. These were so rough that normal people could use them with only a little bit of concentration. The purer forms of the gem require so much energy, that very few are the ones that can actually manage to use them fully. He could only guess what a purer form of the healing gem would be able to do to a human body. Of course, after some use this gem would increase in power, but it eventually splits. One half of the gem, contains a strong, or "mastered", version of the original gem, while the other is just a rough gem, which starts the process all over. The mastered half of the gem no longer grows, but it's high power makes it worth a lot more money than the original rough gem. All the un-mastered gems grow, but the purer versions take much longer, but when they do, the effects that they have are greater than any other gems. Even some of the not so pure gems have been known to contain great powers, some even deemed to summon great beasts and warriors long dead that have been captured in their spirit form inside the gem.. He did not know how this was possible, or if was even true, but the school trained him on how to control the actions of those beasts and warrior when invoked. So for this reason alone, he was convinced that it had to be true. He took his sword out and looked at his own gems. They were green, as all gems which have effects that can be directed outward usually are. He had purchased them not to long ago, and they were still in their rough appearances. He had two elements on its two insets of the sword: Fire and lightning. One which he used to cook one of the guards from inside out, and the other which he used to fry the circuitry of the machines that he battled at the Shinra reactor. He had two more insets on his vest. One in which he had placed the healing gem, and the other which contained the ice gem. He knew that even these relatively weak gems held incredible power if used by a person with a great inner prowess. It was literally true: the stronger you were mentally, the stronger the gem's effect were. Even a gem that had been mastered would not be have as strong effect if used by a little child, as a rough gem used by an adept Soldier, such as the fabled and infamous Sephiroth. He felt better using the attack gems to destroy the enemies quicker, instead of relying on the healing gems to heal himself. In the heat of battle, if you were left alone, as one often is, healing oneself while one is being attacked is just asking to be killed. But this time, he had other people in his team. Even if he was not the one injured, he could use the gem to heal them, while another covered him.  
  
Tifa walked up to Cloud, still smiling from the fact that he was staying for one more mission. "I will be joining you in the next mission. By the way, the guy at the weapons shop asked me to tell you to pass by before you left."  
  
Cloud walked out of the bar, and Tifa headed for the train station, while he went to the nearby weapons shop. It was a bit run-down, but otherwise, looked like any other weapons shop. The man at the counter signaled for the remaining costumers to leave and he and Cloud were left face to face. "I know what you guys are doing." Cloud felt a bit uneasy with this revelation, but decided to hear him out before eliminating him, if need be. "I want a part of it. I know I can't leave this place, but I want to help out." He reached under the counter and took out a blue gem. "I acquired this a long time ago. I was hoping that I would be able to get it to a masters level. It fetches one of the heftiest prices. But I have not been able to use it. Or to even find a situation in which to use it. I will let you have it if you promise me two things: that you destroy all of those damned reactors, and that if you master this gem, that I get half the profit plus the rough gem."  
  
Cloud grabbed the gem and thought about the offer. "If I master the gem, I will keep the rough gem and give you one third of the profits. As for the Shinra, I would eliminate them anyway."  
  
The man behind the counter was about to say something in return, but looked down instead. "I guess 400 thousand gils is a fair price for letting you use my gem." The man stepped away from the counter and continued to work on a piece of machinery.  
  
"Since I'm already here, could I get some grenades."  
  
"You're going to have to pay for those."  
  
"I had no intention of ditching you." Cloud placed the packet of money that Barret had given him the day before on the bench, and the guy quickly went to looking for his grenades. Cloud paid and placed the grenades in his side pocket, making sure that they didn't pull each others, pin. He started walking out of the store and grabbed the blue gem that was handed to him by the clerk and wondered why this gem would be worth so much. He knew it was a combination gem, judging from its color. But what was its effect? He pulled out his sword. This was the only place where he had joined insets. He removed the fire gem and placed the blue gem in its place. He put away the fire gem, and walked over to one of the deserted train yards. He felt a rush of adrenaline, as he usually did when trying out a new gem. He looked around. It was all but deserted, except for some rats and wild alley cats. He decided they were a good target, maybe he would even be paid for getting rid of them. He held his sword in his hands and focused on the blue gem. He felt all the hairs in his body stand on end. Some machine parts started to flicker, on and off. Some of the bigger animals in the train yard came out. Cloud could see they were not too happy with what he was doing as they hissed and took on some defensive postures. From all around Cloud sparks, and then flashes of light appeared as the sonic shock waves hit Cloud in the face. As soon as it all started, it all fizzled to a halt. Cloud look around and saw how most of the animals in his direct area of view were on the floor, each with the distinctive burn marks of lightning. He now understood what he held in his hands. This was an "all" gem. So called because it multiplied the power of the gem, by the number of targets. It didn't, however concentrate it on any one of the targets, but instead spread the effects throughout the entire group. This was particularly dangerous to have if you were part of a big group, because it would be very probable to hit your own friends. These were rare in deed, and very few, if any, actually even had one copy to sell. Cloud decided he wanted to try this one more time. He clasped his sword and concentrated on the gem. He heard a sound behind him and directed his attack in that general direction.  
  
"Cloud, what are you doing?"  
  
Cloud heard the feminine voice and knew he had made a terrible mistake. He let go of the and grabbed on to Tifa expecting the cruel jolt of electrons to slice through his body at any moment. Something that never came. He looked at Tifa who had now taken on a reddish tone at the apparent attention that Cloud had placed on her.  
  
"Um.. I' m. here."  
  
Cloud moved away and turned his face away to hide his embarrassment from her. "You could have been killed, why did you follow me here?"  
  
"Barret sent me to look for you. I heard loud sound coming from this place and came to see what it was. I saw you looking at the trains and wanted to surprise you." She turned around and started heading away.  
  
"Tifa, wait." Cloud walked over to where she was standing. "I was trying out a new gem, I didn't think anyone would notice. When I activated the gem, I was aiming in your direction, and I thought I had." He felt he was saying more than he needed to so he stopped and just looked at her. She looked at him in the eyes. He could see her eyes almost glaze over.  
  
She turned around and started to walk towards the station. "We'll be waiting for you. Don't take too long." Again, he felt the indifference that he had known in her since the time they were small. But he figured that it was better to be this way than to ruin their friendship.  
  
He walked over to where he had dropped his sword and picked it up. Why didn't it work? He looked at the insets and saw that the blue gem had taken on a dark blue appearance. A million reasons passed through his head as to why this was so. But the only reason that made any sense to him was that it had lost its energy. He didn't know how long it would take to gain it back, but on the meanwhile, he was going to place the fire gem in its place. He held the blue gem in his hand and walked towards the train.  
  
The morning air was just as foul and thick as it was at night, maybe even more so. He wasn't planning on staying in this place for too long. After this mission, he should have enough money to go to take a small vacation, before he had to go back to being hired help. If he would have stayed in Soldier, maybe he would have a regular income and they would take care of him once he became old. He thought back though, and never remembered seeing or hearing about any retired Soldier. Maybe Shinra had their own unique way of dealing with the elderly. Probably the same way that they treated him when they learned he had deserted them. He knew he was better of doing what he was doing. He did not have any other trade that he was good at. All he knew was how to sweep and clear an enemy. He was a bounty hunter for hire, and he knew that, just like any other bounty hunter, he would probably meet his end in one of his missions.  
  
He reached the train and was greeted by Jessie, who gave him an ID card. It did not look like the one that they had the day before. It looked like she had put a lot of time making them. Inside the train he saw the same bum from the day before and the same conductor, who proceded to go to the seat that had been picked out by Barret the day before. He obviously did not want any trouble this day either. The train started moving and Cloud walked over to a window. "Cloud come here, I want to show you something."  
  
Tifa was near the computer screen that Jessie had shown him the day before. She was standing in front of it and started to point out there location and where they were going. It was considerably closer than the 1st reactor. "I noticed you've seen this before. It's alright, come closer."  
  
Cloud could smell the light perfume she was wearing, and he could feel the warmth of her body next to his. Suddenly the lights started flashing red and an alarm sounded. "Intruders detected.. Level 1 security enabled." Cloud couldn't believe his luck. Of all times for this to happen, it chose the worst time.  
  
Jessie ran up to them. "Hurry. We have to go to the front car and leave before the system shuts down all the cars. It starts from the one we are in and moves forward." She hurried forward with Barret and the others.  
  
"Shutting car 1 doors." Cloud moved through with Tifa not far behind. "Upgrading security to level 2." Cloud ran through the people in the next wagon and pushed one guy who looked like a punk to the floor. "Security Level 3 Active. Diminishing train speed for guard intercept." The doors of the second train started to close. He went through and Tifa had crouch to go through.  
  
"Tifa, go on ahead. I will get the guards when they come."  
  
Tifa passed by him and grabbed his hand and pulled him. "Just one more car, we will see what we do there."  
  
They passed through the last set of doors and met with Barret. "Barret, where's everybody?"  
  
"Look Around. They put on some disguises."  
  
Cloud look around and noticed that Vicks had on a hat and a suit jacket, and wedge had made himself some drapes out of a mantle. They probably got them as they were coming through the cars. "How do I look." Wedge moved around as if modeling his outfit.  
  
"Yeah. You finally look like a man."  
  
"Thanks. I think."  
  
Barret moved forward and Wedge immediately stood up straight and moved back to his place. "There is almost no other way out. The train is slowing down and some of the Shinra guards will be here any minute."  
  
Jessie looked at the group. She had managed to make herself a fake mustache and suit. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. You see, I made your ID badges special and. well."  
  
"Forget it. We have finish our mission." Barret looked over to the side door for the exit and started pulling the doors open.  
  
"Doors being opened. Security Level 4. Alert!! Alert!!" The metallic sound of the alarm systems voice brought chills. It continued its screeching as Barret put a metal at the bottom of the doors to keep them from closing.  
  
Tifa looked out. "I'll go first. You guys follow."  
  
"You heard the Lady. As soon as we are out, you follow." Barret turned around and jumped through, and so did Cloud. While Jessie and the others waited a little more to get closer to the reactor. Until they also jumped.  
  
Barret got up. He had rolled a few yards before coming to a stop. He saw Cloud a few feet down and Tifa was already walking towards him. "Barret, are you OK. Where's Cloud?"  
  
Barret pointed to where cloud had landed. "I saw him down there."  
  
Cloud moved up to them and they started walking towards the next mako reactor. Not a word was said, and yet they new what each other was thinking. The guards would be where they were in a few minutes, and they had to move fast. Vicks Wedge and Jessie were probably ahead and had passed the electronic surveillance that the train had gone through. Cloud couldn't pass through the sensors because his pass was not accepted by the security sensors. He looked again at the pass and realized that it had classified him as a high ranking officer in Shinra, which would probably be the reason that the security failed to acknowledge him using a slum train. He threw the card down and continued towards a security sensor along the train tracks. Barret was quick to reply: "Only an amature would get caught in this type of trap. As soon as we try to go through, the entire Shinra guard would know that we were here."  
  
Tifa looked at Cloud. "What should we do?" Cloud looked around and found a ventilation hatch near the floor. "What did you find Cloud?"  
  
"It seems we could get inside by using this ventilation shaft."  
  
"Hold on. Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence that there would be a shaft this close to a security sensor. It is probably a trap." He looked at the small shaft. "And besides, I don't think I would fit."  
  
"First of all, Barret; from what I saw on the city display, the tracks were made after the city, and all the reactors were built. At that time, security was not something that they were looking for, because everyone wanted to have a cheap way to get energy, and no one would want to blow up a mako reactor. This shaft has probably been here for a long time, and I am sure that if we keep looking, we will find many others that are around here also. We do not have the time to be discussing this, so regardless of how big you are, you are going to have to go through them." Cloud saw Barret clench his fist. He was obviously not used to having someone tell him what to do, or tell him he was wrong, much less call him fat. But regardless, he moved up to the shaft and pulled the dust covered metal screen.  
  
Cloud moved into it first. It was a not a very loose fit, and he could imagine how Barret would handle it. He heard the movement of Tifa behind him, and after moving some more yards, heard the groan of the metal, which gave away the fact that Barret had just entered the shaft. He made it to the end of the shaft and saw the exhaust fan.  
  
They burst through and walked over to the next floor. This was just like the previous mako reactor. With maybe one or two exeptions. He looked around and could only imagine how this reactor would meet its Fate. 


End file.
